Now the Church is discussing a draft conciliar document "On the Christian burial of the departed." The funeral service in absentia is one of the church practices that causes controversy. We asked priests from Moscow, Kiev, Tobolsk and Lisbon to express their opinion about this type of funeral service.
Archpriest Vladimir Divakov, Secretary of the Moscow Diocese, Rector of the Church of the Ascension of the Lord ("Great Ascension") in Storozhi, Moscow:
- The practice of a funeral service in absentia is absolutely necessary, because relatives do not always have the opportunity to organize a regular funeral service.
If a person drowned, died in a fire, during some natural disasters, or died in the distance, abroad, relatives do not have the opportunity to bury him in the way they would like and how it should be done. But if they know that he was an Orthodox Christian and they themselves want to offer up prayers for him, the possibility of performing a funeral service in absentia cannot be ruled out.
Another thing is that it is impossible to allow absentee funerals to be put on stream when they are ordered, for example, only because it is expensive and problematic to transport the body of the deceased to the temple. This is a completely different situation.
But there is a worse phenomenon: when at morgues random persons who are prohibited from serving or who have never been in dignity offer to perform a funeral service so that relatives do not spend money on the road to the church. The Russian people are gullible, seeing a man in vestments, people think that there is a priest in front of them, and they agree, and as a result, not a funeral service is performed over the deceased, but some kind of indistinct muttering. And this phenomenon is much worse than the practice of absentee funerals.
Archpriest Vladimir Vigilyansky, Rector of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatyana at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, Moscow:
− The document under discussion speaks about the practice of the funeral service in absentia absolutely correctly, but too abstractly. Indeed, this is a legacy of the Soviet past, when people were afraid of open confession, they were afraid that they would find out that the deceased and his relatives were “secret” believers, and so on. In exceptional cases, this is quite legitimate. I, like many priests, had the experience of a funeral service in absentia. For example, one of the parishioners of our temple was a test pilot who burned down along with the plane during a test. Relatives ordered the funeral, and I had no arguments to refuse them.
Archpriest Alexander Ageikin, Rector of the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhovo, Moscow:
− We discussed the document on the Christian burial of the dead with the priests of our deanery, and we had many questions about the possibility categorical prohibition perform a funeral service.
Of course, such a ban cannot take place, because we still have cases when a person dies in the sea, in a fire or during a mountain climb. There are people who have gone missing and it is clear that they will not return home alive. If we don't have a funeral service in absentia, how can we do it?
Unfortunately, today the practice of the funeral service in absentia sometimes takes unpious forms and turns into a kind of “rite with a charmed land.” As you know, after the usual funeral service is performed, the deceased is buried in the ground, and after the correspondence ceremony, relatives are given some land over which the priest said prayers. And you can often hear such a dialogue: “Can I order an absentee funeral from you?” - It is possible. - "And when to come for the land?". It is not interesting for a person to be present at the funeral service, to participate in it, his goal is to get this “spellbound land” in order, as people say, to “seal the coffin”, to arrange a certain rite correctly. In this regard, the rite of the funeral service in absentia is overgrown with a mass of superstitions, as if it were some kind of magical act, and the purpose of the funeral service is to collect loving people, friends, relatives at the coffin of the deceased, so that they can hear, as it were, the last word of the deceased addressed to them (after all, part of the funeral chants is spoken on behalf of the deceased), pray together, reconcile with the person for not paying him due attention, for a long time did not see , allowed mistakes, insults and quarrels to interfere in relations with him ... This is to some extent the rank of forgiveness, which is asked from the deceased at his coffin.
And today, in very rare cases, relatives gather to pray at the funeral service in absentia.
And since the priest has to perform the funeral alone in an empty church, a vicious practice arises when he accumulates absentee funerals in order to perform them in one list, and sometimes he waits for a real “full-time” deceased in order to add the names of those in absentia to his funeral. All this completely kills the meaning of the funeral, and after all, once the monastic brethren called the funeral the Sacrament.
It happens that a person orders a funeral service in absentia, because the deceased began to dream about him. And when you ask what the goal is, it turns out that he just wants the deceased to leave him behind, stop appearing and torturing him. That is, a person seeks to facilitate the existence of not the deceased, but himself.
A separate group of problems, which should also be mentioned in the document, concerns funerals in morgues. Recently, a woman who ordered a funeral for her mother at the morgue contacted me, and she was horrified, because the funeral was performed at lightning speed, so when it began, it became clear that this was not a funeral at all. Funerals at morgues often turn into a kind of marathon: it is not clear who bury the dead in 10-12 minutes. The woman who came to me was completely upset, and after listening to her, I put on an epitrachelion, took a censer and performed an absentee funeral for her deceased mother.
Hegumen Arseny (Sokolov), rector of the Church of All Saints, Lisbon:
− It is well known that this is a new tradition that does not correspond to the general church tradition. Its beginning dates back to the post-war period, when the relatives of the dead despaired of waiting for the missing soldiers. I think that a funeral service in absentia is permissible only in those cases when it is impossible to do it in person, when it is not known where the body of the deceased Christian is. I have lived by the ocean for many years. Very often it is reported about the dead in the water element, and rescue services do not always find their bodies. What to do if relatives ask for a burial service for the drowned and not found? This is the case when an absentee funeral is permissible. Absentee funerals are the extreme exception; they should not be the norm.
Archimandrite Sylvester (Stoichev), senior assistant to the rector of the Kiev Theological Academy for educational and methodological work, cleric of the Academic Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, Kiev:
- The appearance of a draft document, which is dedicated to the Christian burial of the dead, is very timely, because it is well known how many unacceptable distortions in the understanding of this action take place not only among the laity, but even among the clergy.
The draft document indicates two practices that require careful consideration - the so-called "absentee funeral" and cremation.
It should immediately be clarified that, ideally, neither one nor the other should be, but the realities of life make their own adjustments, and the task of the clergy is to minimize all kinds of incorrect opinions and practices regarding burial.
When it comes to the funeral service in absentia, I consider it important to explain to believers that the funeral service is not magical in nature: the funeral service - the soul is at peace, not the funeral service - the soul is tormented. With this approach, in addition to a misunderstanding of the essence of the rite, the funeral itself is understood as obligatory, but still a private affair of the relatives of the deceased. From this, the realization is lost that a believer, a member of the Church, cannot have a private matter, for everything that happens in the Church is a common cause that unites, not divides.
The principle of unity permeates the entire life of the Church. In the celebrations of many Sacraments, especially Baptism, it is clear that the conciliar mind of the Church conceives what is being performed not as a private event, but as the work of the entire community, of the entire Church. This understanding extends to the funeral of the deceased. It is enough to read the text of the burial rite to understand how much this text does not agree with the funeral service in absentia! The call to look at the deceased, to understand the meaning of a person, to realize the human weakness that appeared due to the fall, and to testify to faith in God, who will resurrect everyone on the Day of Judgment - this is the meaning of these lines. During the funeral service in absentia, the words sound as if into the void. They become pointless.
Often there is blatant disrespect: people ask to perform a funeral service in absentia for one of their relatives, but they themselves do not stay!
"In absentia funeral service" should be an exception. This is a forced practice, which should be done only in those cases that are very correctly indicated in the draft document.
Archpriest Andrey Dudchenko, Cleric of the Transfiguration Cathedral, Kiev:
- In my opinion, the practice of the funeral service in absentia is permissible only in cases where it was not possible to perform the funeral service over the body of the deceased. In the document under discussion, these points are just stipulated. Besides, in contemporary practice funeral services in absentia are sometimes blessed to be performed in relation to persons who have arbitrarily died, if the bishop deems it possible - as a rule, this applies to those cases when a mentally ill person or a person in a state of severe affect lays hands on himself. I would like the document to assess this practice as well.
From pastoral considerations, I see the correct emphasis in the document on the importance of gathering relatives and friends of the deceased for an absentee funeral. This funeral is called absentee due to the absence of the body of the deceased, but not relatives! Considering the circumstances of our reality, when the majority of the population rarely visits the temple and hears the priest's sermon even more rarely, each funeral is in many ways unique opportunity for the priest to convey the gospel word to the circle of relatives and friends of the deceased. Every effort should be made to ensure that the sermon at the funeral does not sound formal, but that the priest is looking for words that will help "reach out" to the hearts of the assembled people.
Archpriest Mikhail Denisov, teacher of the Tobolsk Theological Seminary, rector of the Church of the Seven Youths of Ephesus, Tobolsk:
− At present, it is impossible to completely abandon the practice of funeral services in absentia, because we do not yet have churches in each locality, and the Orthodox do not always have the opportunity to invite a priest to the funeral service. The presence of relatives is, of course, desirable, but not always possible. There are times when a person is lonely, there are no relatives, he was buried, and compassionate neighbors ask for a funeral service. Or, for example, a person died in a nursing home ...
An absentee funeral is also justified when a person who has become a church member asks for the funeral of his long-dead relatives who were buried without a funeral. In Siberia, this often happens, because temples at Soviet power there was very little here, and in many areas there was none at all.
Prepared by Olga Bogdanova
What is a burial (burial)?
Burial is a prayer service established by the Church for parting words and seeing people off to another world. The funeral is vernacular name, which was given to this order because more than half of the prayers in it are sung. The correct name for the funeral service is "dead follow-up" or "burial".
Who is possible and who is impossible to be buried in the Orthodox Church?
In the Orthodox Church, only a person of the Orthodox faith can be buried. If there is any doubt about a person's religion or baptism, then a priest should be consulted.
Do not bury unbaptized babies, including those unborn as a result of miscarriage or abortion. About the afterlife of such, St. Gregory the Theologian wrote: “They will not be glorified and will not be punished by the righteous Judge ... for not everyone who is not worthy of punishment is already worthy of honor, just as anyone who is not worthy of honor is already worthy of punishment.”
But there are cases when burial is not performed, even if the person was baptized in the Orthodox Church.
First of all, these are those who during their lifetime abandoned the Orthodox faith in favor of another faith or unbelief (atheists, agnostics, occultists). The funeral service is not performed even when it is known for certain that the newly deceased blasphemed God during his lifetime or asked in his will not to bury him according to Orthodox custom.
Burial does not change anything in the posthumous fate of a person who did not confess God during his lifetime. And, even more so, if he positioned himself as an atheist, laughed at faith and believers, and maybe even was their persecutor. Such a person never repented, did not confess, did not strive for God, did not desire Him. Do not impose on the soul loved one communication, which he did not want in life. We must respect this choice, even if it seems wrong to us. One should not force the will of a person after his death. God is his judge!
The Church also does not bury suicides. These are people who did not want to endure to the end the trials measured out to them and independently encroached on what lies solely in the power of God - human life.
Nevertheless, taking into account the grief of relatives and friends about suicides, the Russian Orthodox Church established a prayer service for their consolation. The text "The Order of Prayerful Consolation of Relatives who died without permission" was adopted on July 27, 2011 at a meeting of the Holy Synod. If trouble happened in your family and someone arbitrarily died, then you can ask the priest to serve this rank instead of the funeral of a suicide.
Burial is an exception. only in cases where the suicide was mentally ill, random suicides - i.e. those who did not calculate the dose of alcohol, who drank poison by mistake, accidentally discharged the barrel into themselves while cleaning their weapons, fell out of the window, just wanting to scare relatives or play a joke on friends, faking a suicide attempt, etc. Then the Church can bury the deceased, but first his relatives will need to obtain special permission from the bishop, providing a certificate of his illness and death. In the same way, murderers are not supposed to be buried if they have not repented of their deeds.
It is important to remember that the names of people belonging to the groups listed above are not given in the commemoration of the deceased at memorial services or liturgies in the church. This is due to the fact that Orthodox Christians are commemorated in the texts of church prayers, and therefore the inclusion of non-Orthodox names or people who died in opposition to Christianity would be a lie and deceit.
Any intentional concealment from the priest of information about the conditions of death and religious views the deceased is a grave sin of relatives or friends.
How, according to the Orthodox tradition, to prepare the body of the deceased for burial?
The deceased is freed from clothes, his jaw is tied up and placed on a bench or on the floor, spreading a cloth. For ablution, a sponge, warm water and soap are used, rubbing all parts of the body three times with cross-shaped movements, starting from the head. On the neck of the deceased there must be a cross, if preserved - a baptismal one. Dressed in a strict and new dress. As a rule, a man in a suit without a tie, and a woman in a long dress or long skirt with a turtleneck blouse and long sleeves. The head of a Christian is covered with a large scarf that completely covers her hair, and its ends can not be tied, but simply folded crosswise. The washed and clothed body is placed face up in the coffin. The mouth of the deceased must be closed, eyes closed, arms folded crosswise on the chest, right over left. Usually the vesting of the deceased takes place in a hospital or mortuary. It is important that one of the relatives follow the process of vesting and positioning the deceased in the coffin.
How to pray for the deceased?
As soon as relatives learn about the death of a loved one, it is important to start praying for the deceased. This can be done by one of the relatives, friends or acquaintances. There is a tradition to ask someone from the knowledgeable pious believers to make a prayer.
The following prayers are read: "Following the outcome of the soul from the body." The canon for the deceased, which is part of the "Following the Exodus of the Soul from the Body", is desirable to read daily until the burial of the deceased. In some prayer books, the "Canon for the Reposed" is called the "Canon of the One Departed." In addition, this canon is read each time after reading the entire Psalter over the deceased.
In the course of 40 days after death, you can read the following prayer in the morning and evening, which ends the Follow-up: "Remember, Lord our God, in the faith and hope of the belly of your eternally reposed servant (your reposed servant), our brother (our sister) (name), and as Good and Humanitarian, forgive sins and consume injustice, weaken, leave and forgive all free of his (her) sins and involuntary, deliver him (s) eternal torment and the fire of Gehenna, and grant him (her) the communion and enjoyment of Your eternal good, prepared for those who love You: if you sin, but do not depart from You, and without a doubt in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Thy God in the Trinity glorified, faith, and the Unity in the Trinity and the Trinity in Unity Orthodox even until his last breath of confession. , and with Your saints, as if Generous, rest in peace: there is no man, even if he lives and does not sin, but You are One, except for all sin and truth, Your truth forever, and You are the One God of mercy and bounty, and philanthropy, and glory to You we send, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever. Amen."
An ancient custom is the reading of the Psalter for the deceased. God-inspired psalms console the grieving hearts of the deceased's neighbors and serve as help to the soul that has been separated from the body.
If the days of remembrance fall after Easter, on Bright Week, then instead of the Psalter, they traditionally read one of the books of the New Testament.
It is recommended to order a magpie for the deceased - a prayer commemoration in the temple at the Divine Liturgy for forty days. If opportunities allow, then order a magpie in several temples or monasteries. In the future, Magpie can be renewed or immediately file a note for a long-term commemoration - six months or a year. During Great Lent, when the Divine Liturgy is celebrated much less often, in a number of churches they commemorate the names of the dead - in the altar during the entire Lent.
For forty days, you can also read an akathist for the one who died. And in some cases, if possible, read the Psalter and Akathist together. For example, the Psalter in the morning, and the Akathist in the evening. And, of course, if possible, it is necessary to do alms, works of mercy for the deceased. It is these actions that are a real indicator of love for the deceased.
When, where and why is the burial performed?
The burial should be performed in the temple, according to custom, on the third day. At the same time, the day of death is always included in the countdown of days. For example, for a person who died on Sunday, the third day will fall on Tuesday. You must bring to the temple in advance: a copy of the passport of the deceased, a death certificate and a certificate of Baptism of the deceased (if any).
From ancient times, according to tradition, the deceased was not only buried in the temple, but also left there for three days. During this time, right up to the funeral, they read the Psalter after the deceased. Currently, the deceased is brought to the temple directly to the burial rite. However, it is also possible to bring the coffin to the temple and leave it for the night, reading the entire Psalter over the deceased. The funeral service may also be held in the cemetery chapel or in the mortuary chapel. In exceptional cases, this service is performed at home or in a cemetery. The place of the funeral should be discussed with the priest or other responsible person in the church.
How is the rite of burial in the temple?
Before burial, the body of the deceased is covered with a special white cover - shroud- as a sign that the deceased, who belonged to the Orthodox Church and united with Christ in her holy Sacraments, is under the protection of Christ, under the patronage of the Church, which until the end of time will pray for his soul. This cover is decorated with inscriptions with texts of prayers and excerpts from Holy Scripture, the image of the cross banner and angels. paper whisk, with the image of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and the Forerunner of the Lord John, with the inscription "Trisagion", is placed on the forehead of the deceased, as a symbol of the crown of victory. The whisk reminds us that the feats of a Christian on earth in the fight against all suffering, temptations, temptations and passions have ended, and now he expects a reward for them in the Kingdom of Heaven. Put into hands crucifixion(there is a special funeral type of the Crucifixion) and a permissive prayer. A small icon: for a man - an icon of the Savior, for a woman - an icon of the Virgin. All necessary items can be purchased at the church shop.
In the temple, the body of the deceased is placed on a special stand with their feet to the altar, and candlesticks with lighted candles are placed crosswise near the coffin. The lid of the coffin is left in the porch or in the yard. It is allowed to bring fresh flowers into the church. All worshipers have burning candles in their hands. Light is a symbol of joy and life, victory over darkness. This is an expression of bright love for the deceased and a warm prayer for him. Candles remind us of those candles that we hold on Easter night, testifying to the Resurrection of Christ. On a separately prepared table near the coffin they put memorial kutya, with a candle in the middle. The coffin remains open until the end of the funeral, if there are no special obstacles for this.
Priests perform burial in white festive vestments. It also has symbolic meaning. The funeral service is the birth of the soul into eternal life. The white clothes of the priests emphasize the significance of this event.
What do they pray for at a funeral?
The funeral service consists of many hymns. They briefly depict the whole fate of man: for the violation by the first people, Adam and Eve, of the commandments of the Creator, man again turns into the earth from which he was taken, but despite many sins, he does not cease to be an image of the glory of God, and therefore the Holy Church prays to the Lord , by His inexpressible mercy, to forgive the departed sins and to honor him with the Kingdom of Heaven. If the deceased led a spiritual life, if he confessed and took communion, if he, at least minimally, participated in the life of the community, the Church can prayerfully admonish him.
At the end of the funeral, after reading the Apostle and the Gospel, the priest reads permissive prayer. With this prayer, the deceased is resolved (liberated) from the prohibitions and sins that burdened him, in which he repented or which he could not remember at Confession. Thus, the deceased enters the afterlife reconciled with God and neighbors. After reading, the text of the prayer is put into the hands of the deceased.
Burial is not an automatic forgiveness of sins and a guaranteed pass to heaven. Everything is in the hands of God, and ultimately He pronounces judgment on the soul based on the results of its earthly life. Nevertheless, we pray and give alms, hoping that the Creator will take into account our love and have mercy on the soul of the deceased. After leaving the body, the soul begins to suffer from its own imperfections and passions. Prayers performed during burial help the soul and comfort it.
How is the farewell to the deceased?
After the end of the prayers, farewell to the deceased takes place. The last kiss marks the eternal union of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Relatives and friends of the deceased with a bow ask for forgiveness for involuntary insults, are applied to the icon on the chest of the deceased and the nimbus on the forehead. In the event that the funeral takes place at closed coffin kissing the cross on the lid of the coffin or the priest's hand. At the end of the funeral, the body of the deceased is escorted to the cemetery with the singing of the Trisagion. If the priest does not accompany the coffin to the grave, then the burial takes place where the funeral took place - in the temple or at home. With the words "The Lord's land and its fulfillment (that is, everything that fills it), the universe and all who live on it," the priest crosswise sprinkles the body of the deceased covered with earth with earth. If unction was performed on the deceased before his death, then the remaining consecrated oil also poured crosswise on the body.
The escort of the deceased to the cemetery by a priest must be agreed in advance.
How is the coffin lowered into the grave and what kind of monument is erected?
The deceased is usually lowered into the grave with his face to the east (head to the west, and feet to the east) in anticipation of the Second Coming of Christ, and as a sign that the deceased goes from the west (sunset) of life to the East of eternity. When the coffin is lowered into the grave, the Trisagion is sung.
The tombstone Cross can be made of any material, but it must be of the Orthodox eight-pointed shape. He is placed at the feet of the deceased, with a crucifix to the face of the deceased - so that at the general resurrection of the dead, rising from the tomb, he could look at the sign of Christ's victory over the devil. Tombstones with crosses carved on them are also placed. The cross over the grave of a Christian is a silent preacher of blessed immortality and the coming Resurrection.
What is an absentee burial and in what cases is it performed?
Previously, absentee burial was allowed by the Church only in the case when the body of the deceased was not available for burial: fires, floods, wars and other emergencies. Now absenteeism is more common. Firstly, due to the lack of temples in many cities and villages; secondly, because of the high cost of transport and other funeral services, as a result of which the relatives of the deceased Christian cannot afford to bring the body of the deceased to the temple. It is better to refuse commemoration, wreaths, an expensive tombstone, but make every effort and bring the body to the temple, in extreme cases, call the priest home or to the cemetery. This speaks of only one thing - the attitude towards the deceased of his relatives, who are too lazy to lead the deceased to the temple. If a person loves his loved one and wants to bury him in a Christian way, then this must be done in accordance with church traditions. Nevertheless, in the event of hopeless circumstances, the Church goes to meet people and, if necessary, performs an absentee burial rite.
An absentee burial must be done before the funeral. In the case of an absentee burial, the necessary burial items (an icon, a crucifix, a whisk, a scroll of paper with the text of a permissive prayer) are placed in the coffin independently. It is also necessary to take a bag with consecrated earth. The earth must be scattered over the body over the shroud in a crosswise manner - from the head to the feet and from the right shoulder to the left before closing the coffin lid. When an absentee funeral is performed some time after the funeral. Then the burial earth should be scattered over the grave, and the whisk and prayer should be buried in the grave mound to a shallow depth.
Is cremation allowed in the Orthodox Church?
God is the Creator of the human soul and body. He is the sole master of their destiny. We must not interfere with our will in what God wants to do with our body. It can be completely destroyed, but it can also be wonderfully preserved by the will of God. If Christians burned the bodies of the dead, then there would be no relics of saints in the Church.
On the other hand, throughout history, the Church prays for the repose of the souls of those of her children whose bodies, due to various circumstances, were buried in the water element, abandoned on the battlefield, burned in the fire, became food for animals or fish, disappeared without a trace as a result of earthquakes and various disasters. . Many holy martyrs of Christ did not receive a Christian burial, both in ancient and recent times, which did not deprive them of eternal salvation and glory. Heavenly Kingdom. However, in all these cases, this happened not at the request of people or their loved ones, but because of the elements or evil human will.
The burial customs of Christians are determined by the fact that, on the basis of Divine Revelation, the Church professes faith in the bodily resurrection of the dead (Is. 26:19; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 52-54; Philp. 3:21) and refers to the Christian's body as the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). In the rite of Christian burial, the Church expresses the reverence befitting the body of a deceased person (Fundamentals of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church, XII, 7).
The burial of the body in the ground, as well as in coffins or caves carved in stone, corresponds to the belief of the Church that the day of the general resurrection will come, when the earth will vomit the dead(Isaiah 26:19) and what is sown in corruption will rise in incorruption(1 Corinthians 15:42). Until then, the dust will return to the earth, which it was; and the spirit will return to God who gave it(Eccl. 12:7), says the word of God. The human race in the person of the forefather Adam received the command of the Lord in the sweat of your face... eat bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken, for dust you are and to dust you shall return(Gen. 3:9).
Based on the evidence of Church Tradition, the Russian Church cannot recognize cremation as the norm for dealing with the bodies of deceased Christians, consistent with the faith of the Church. At the same time, the Church believes that the Lord has the power to resurrect any body and from any element (Rev. 20:13). We are not afraid of any damage in any way of burial, but we adhere to the old and best custom of interred the body in the ground.”, wrote the early Christian author Mark Minucius Felix. Bearing this in mind, the Russian Orthodox Church does not deprive prayerful commemoration of Christians who, for various reasons, have not been honored with burial in accordance with church tradition.
Relatives or friends of the deceased should do everything to bury the body, and not cremate it. If they deliberately perform cremation in circumstances where a Christian burial is possible, then they are committing a sin for which they will be held responsible before God.
How are baptized children under 7 buried?
Over the dead babies who have accepted the sacrament of Baptism, a special follow-up is performed, as over immaculate creatures. It does not include prayers for the forgiveness of sins, but there are petitions to vouchsafe the baby of the Kingdom of Heaven according to the unfalse promise of the Lord (Mark 10:14). Although the baby did not perform any feats of Christian piety, but, having been cleansed in holy Baptism from original sin, became the immaculate heir eternal life. The rite of infant burial is replete with words of consolation to grieving parents. His hymns testify to the faith of the Church that blessed infants after death become prayer books for all who loved them on earth. The funeral service for this rank is performed for children under seven years of age.
On what days are burials not performed?
On the first day of Easter and on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the dead are not brought into the temple and no burials are performed.
What happens to the soul after death?
According to church tradition first two days the soul is still on earth and, with the angel accompanying it, visits those places that attract it with memories of earthly joys and sorrows, good and evil deeds.
V the third day The Lord commands the soul to ascend to heaven to worship Himself. Then the soul, returning from the Face of God, accompanied by angels, enters the heavenly abodes and contemplates their inexpressible beauty. So she stays for six days - from the third to the ninth. On the ninth day, the Lord commands the angels to again present the soul to Him for worship. After the second worship of God, the angels take the soul to hell, and she contemplates the cruel torments of unrepentant sinners. V fortieth day upon death, the soul ascends for the third time to the Throne of the Lord, where its fate is decided - a place is assigned, which she was honored by her deeds.
From this it is clear that the days of intense prayer for the dead should be third, ninth and fortieth days after death. These dates also have another meaning. The commemoration of the deceased on the third day is performed in honor of the three-day resurrection of Jesus Christ and in the image of the Most Holy Trinity. Prayer on the ninth day - honoring the nine angelic ranks who, as servants of the King of Heaven, petition for pardon for the deceased.
How to commemorate the dead after burial?
In the Orthodox Church, they pray for the dead, not because they consider it possible to change the posthumous fate of the deceased by their own power, but because they trust in God's mercy to the deceased. Praying for the departed relatives, we testify before God of our love for them, and humbly hope that the Lord, who is Love, will accept our prayers and fulfill our petitions. At least we must always understand in our hearts that God may not fulfill our petitions, and this is His holy will.
In addition to commemorating the deceased on the third, ninth and fortieth days after his death, he is commemorated on the annual day of death, birthday and name day, since the deceased is alive and immortal in spirit and will someday be completely renewed when the Lord raises up his body.
To correctly commemorate the deceased on a memorable day, you need to come to the temple at the beginning of the service and submit a memorial note with his name. Notes are accepted for proskomidia and memorial service. The note should be titled "On Repose", write the names legibly, putting them in genitive case, for example: new pr. Peter, Mary. For clergy, indicate their rank, in full or in an understandable abbreviation, for example: Met. John, prot. Nicholas, St. Sergius, deacon. Vasily. Children under the age of seven are referred to as infants; deceased in the period up to the fortieth day - newly deceased; on the anniversary of death - ever-memorable. Warriors are listed separately.
During the proskomedia, the first part of the Divine Liturgy, the priest extracts small particles from special prosphora loaves, praying for the living and the dead, served in notes. Subsequently, after communion, these particles will be lowered into the Chalice with the Blood of Christ with a prayer Wash away, O Lord, the sins of those who are remembered here by Your precious Blood and the prayers of Your saints.
"Panihida" in Greek means "all-night singing". Even in the era of Roman persecution, it became customary to pray at night for the dead. The essence of the memorial service is the prayerful commemoration of the deceased brothers and sisters, who, although they died faithful to Christ, did not completely renounce the weaknesses of fallen human nature and took their infirmities with them. Performing a memorial service, the Church reminds all living people of how the souls of the dead ascend from the earth to the Judgment of God, how they stand at this Judgment with fear and trembling, confessing their deeds before the Lord.
In addition to private commemorations of the departed, the Holy Church established general commemorations. So, for prayers for the dead, a special day is defined in the week - Saturday, on which the funeral service is due, except for holidays, if they happen on this day. Days of a special general commemoration of the dead are called parental Saturdays. On these days, all Christians who have died from the age are commemorated. On Saturday, as a day of rest, it is more logical to pray for the repose of the dead with the saints. And they are called parental because each person commemorates, first of all, the closest people - his parents and relatives.
Meat-waste universal parent saturday a week before Great Lent;
Parental Saturdays of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks of Great Lent;
Trinity ecumenical parental Saturday before the day of the Holy Trinity;
Demetrius parental Saturday, a week before the feast of the memory of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica;
Radonitsa, on Tuesday of the second week after Easter;
May 9 is the day of commemoration of all those who died and tragically died during the Great Patriotic War.
On the eve of parental days in the evening, Parastases are performed in churches - all-night vigils for the dead, and after the Liturgy there are ecumenical memorial services.
In addition to participating in funeral services, the Holy Church commands her children to commemorate the dead at home prayer as well. Here every worshiper is given some freedom to exercise personal diligence.
In addition to praying for the dead, another act of commemoration of them is almsgiving. By alms is meant not only giving to the poor in memory of the deceased, but any kindness in relation to those in need. Saint John Chrysostom said: A luxurious burial is not love for the deceased, but vanity. If you want to condole with the deceased, I will show you a different way of burial and teach you to put on robes, decorations worthy of him and glorifying him: this is almsgiving.
The simplest and most common way to sacrifice for the dead is to offer a candle. Each temple has a kanun - a special candlestick in the form of a rectangular table with many cells for candles and a small crucifix. It is here that candles are placed with a prayer for repose, panikhidas and absentee funerals are performed here. Also, for commemoration, they bring to the temple and put some of the products on the eve.
However, in order to help the soul of a loved one, we must ourselves come to God. We must live according to His commandments, communicate with Him in prayer, ask Him for mercy, including for the soul we want to help. God accepts everyone who turns to Him. So, there is no reason for despair, on the contrary, we still have time to do the necessary things that can help the souls of the deceased relatives and friends.
How to organize a commemoration in accordance with the Orthodox tradition?
After the burial, as well as on the 9th, 40th days and the anniversary, after prayer in the church, memorial meals are held at home. The meal should begin with a prayer for the deceased. The set table should correspond to the day. If it is a fast day, then the meal should be fast. At the memorial meal, fun and excess in dishes and drinks are excluded. Alcohol should be consumed in moderation, it is better if it is wine, and not spirits. In Russia traditional memorial dishes kutia, pancakes and jelly are considered. During Great Lent, it is better to arrange a commemoration on Saturday or Sunday.
Is it worth taking children with you to funerals and commemorations?
It is necessary to be consistent with the nature of the child and his age. There is a sense in the presence of a child at the rank of burial, when he is already able to comprehend what is happening. The child must be protected from the wrong perception of death. He must see that our nature is passionate, perishable and mortal. And in the funeral service of the deceased, we must see another lesson, for ourselves and for our children. This great lesson lies in the fact that the newly deceased shows by his own example what will happen to us. And this gives all people present at the funeral the opportunity to once again think about the frailty of their existence, about the true meaning of life, about the vector of their development.
It is not right that now death has been hidden from children. First, they are afraid because they feel that something important is being hidden from them. When adults say: “grandfather is no more, and you don’t need to see this,” while they themselves sob, for a child, the concept of “death” becomes a horror. And, of course, he does not perceive it as part of life or birth into eternity. He begins to perceive death as a catastrophe. But he will have to face it many times in his life, and not only with someone else's, but also with preparation for his own death. And those false ideas that his parents imposed on him in childhood, when they hid the dead from him, will reflect very badly on him. mental state. In addition, the Orthodox funeral service is filled with consolation and bright joy and instills peace in the heart, and therefore it cannot frighten a child who is already able to understand what is happening. In this case, the child can attend only part of the service and commemoration.
How much does a funeral cost?
When performing a burial, the priest, choir and church servants work, and therefore it will be fair to make a donation for these works. At the same time, there are no special tariffs in the Church for the performance of trebs, but only a voluntary donation of relatives and friends for the performance of a Church Sacrament or rite. The size of the sacrifice is determined by the capabilities and diligence of people.
It often comes to our families unexpectedly, but unfortunately inevitable... We asked Priest Mikhail Mikhailov to answer the most common questions about death, what a funeral service is, how to behave properly at a funeral service and at a cemetery.
– Father, was man created mortal?
God didn't create death. God created man immortal. But Adam was given one commandment, the transgression of which meant falling away, renouncing God and Eternal Life. The Greek theologian Metropolitan Hierofei (Vlachos) writes: “The sin, as a result of which death was born, is the fall of Adam in the paradise of sweetness. God, having given man the commandment not to eat from the forbidden fruit, at the same time informed him: “On the day you eat from it, you will die by death” (Genesis 2:17). Indeed, after the commission of this sin, death entered human nature; first, spiritual death, which consists in excommunication human soul from God, and then bodily death - the separation of the soul from the body. Adam fell away from God spiritually, and bodily death followed.
But Christ, the Son of God, came to save man from sin and save man from death. Before the Resurrection of Christ, the gates of Paradise were closed and everyone, even the righteous, went to hell. Therefore, on the icon of the Resurrection of Christ, we see people on whose heads halos shine. Christ opened the gates of Eternal Life to us, and from that moment death is a birth for eternal life.
– How should a person prepare for his death and when should one begin to prepare?
– A Christian needs to remember that he is mortal, that the Lord can take us at any moment, completely unexpected for us. The Lord says: “In whatever I find, in that I will judge,” and the holy fathers remind: “remember the hour of death and you will never sin.”
Every evening we read the prayer “Lord, will this coffin be for me?” This means that when going to sleep, we must remember that we may not wake up. Therefore, you need to repent of your sins before God every day and hour, you need to regularly confess, take communion, live in such a way that you are ready to stand before God's Judgment and trust in His mercy.
- How to deal with loved ones? Do they need to remind their unchurched elderly loved ones to prepare for death?
I think it is necessary, with love. After all, then we will “bite our elbows” that we did not guide a person on the path of salvation, we did not take communion. How many cases does any priest know when relatives come to the temple at the very last moment, asking to come to the dying, but it is often too late...
For example, a 100-year-old man was recently communed, who had never received communion in his entire life. A man has lived for 100 years and never took communion! Thank God, he was conscious and it was possible to admonish him.
There was a case with a familiar priest, they invited him home to a dying grandmother, she was unconscious. It is impossible to give communion to an unconscious person, so Father Sergius asked her loudly: “Shall we take communion?” - and at some point she came to her senses and answered: “Yes!”. Father Sergius gave her communion, and literally half an hour later she reposed.
You don't have to wait until the very end. Everyone has heard the saying “memento mori” – remember death. We must always remember death. As we come into this world, so we will leave. We are preparing young people to become parents, and the elderly need to be reminded of death. We are getting ready for bed after the day's worries. So is our life: we woke up - we were born, we rejoice in life, then responsibility, worries - life passes, by the end we get tired, we want to rest, we are preparing for the transition to another world.
Will our neighbors be offended that we remind them of this? After all, now, especially in the West, and little by little in our country, the topic of death is becoming almost taboo, everyone is trying to avoid it ...
“Most likely, they will be offended when this hour of death comes, and they will realize how much they have missed. In my personal practice, there was such a case: the chairman of one collective farm, having communed for the first time before his death, was simply surprised why he had not received communion before, now he is dying, but how did he manage without the Church before ...
A person in the face of death becomes completely different. We have not yet experienced this, but everyone will survive it, the attitude towards the past life changes in the face of death, the whole life in an instant passes before the eyes of a person. Well, if we are honored with a quiet Christian death, but there are so many tragic deaths. Therefore, one must always be ready for death.
Is it necessary to hide a serious diagnosis from loved ones? Is it necessary to comfort them, saying that they have nothing terrible with their health, or should we try to prepare them for the transition to Eternal Life?
- Now medicine has moved away from not talking about such a diagnosis, in any case, a person needs to be prepared somehow.
This year, on Bright Week, he buried the river. B. Galina. A young woman, she was seriously ill. I married her and my husband. She knew about the disease, knew that the disease was incurable and told me that this disease made her look at life in a completely different way. She and her husband are believers from believing families, it was easier for her.
And what is it like for an unbeliever on the threshold of Eternity? Therefore, you need to somehow quietly prepare a person, no matter what the diagnosis is.
- So, it is wrong to tell a person that everything will be fine, that he will definitely get better?
– It’s not wrong, you can give hope, but you need to explain that the Lord gives us everything.
I know people terminally ill with cancer who, by the will of God, recovered. The Lord judges. And we need to prepare a person to accept the will of God, the Lord still releases us for some time. It is very difficult for loved ones and it is difficult for the sick themselves in the last minutes. To alleviate their fate, their pain is our task. Being close to a dying person is not easy and not everyone has the strength. Relatives of the dying person are sometimes irritated, angry, almost beat the patient, and after death they sob, reproach themselves for unused time, for their rudeness. The Lord gives us the opportunity, but we do not use this time for preparation. It is important to bring people to the very understanding of death as a natural transition - from this life to Eternal Life. We all wear clothes, but they wear out over time. We throw away the worn out thing and do not grieve. So is our body, the shell - it decays. But we will gladly put on new clothes that the Lord will give us, we will move to His abode. It's like waiting to meet your parents. She is always joyful.
In addition, often, people are sad about themselves: "They left me ..."! I remember one funeral. The woman grieved mortally and was killed, at the coffin of her deceased husband. Then she was asked some abstract question, she immediately changed her behavior and calmly answered, like an actor who played the role, then again returned to the coffin and began to lament with a vengeance!
- That is, it is important to distinguish when we grieve about the fate of deceased loved ones, and when we just feel sorry for ourselves, that we feel bad without them?
- Of course, it is hard to lose loved ones, parents, or children. But you need to look at everything sanely. If the Lord takes the child, then it is necessary. After all, how often people complain about their fate, you often hear from people: “The son (or daughter) drinks, behaves indecently, beats his parents! It would be better if he died in childhood! If the Lord takes even the closest person, this is all done according to His will.
- In the XIX century. the books told a lot about how mothers begged for sick children, and then they could not raise them and keep them from sin and spiritual death and asked God to take the child, if it was His will, before it was too late ...
- Of course, let's take the old days: in the village they gave birth to 20 children and half died, but there was no particular grief, people were sad, but they understood that this was normal. Those who survived became strong and healthy. Everything in life is providential, and early death can physically cut off a person's path to sin.
Very often, the death of our loved ones can serve as an admonition to us, especially the death of a young person. I remember such a case. When I served in Lefortovo, they brought a young unbaptized man to the temple, he crashed in a car. Many young people came, they filled the whole yard, they stand, they demand that he be buried, they almost rush at the priest with their fists. And the elderly priest began to explain to them that the unbaptized should not be buried and answered them very wisely: “Look, he is unbaptized, but how many of you are baptized here? He is an example for you, so that you think, get baptized, they will bring you to the threshold of the church, and what will happen? You demand that the unbeliever be buried, but why? Because your soul demands. You understand that you need to carry it to church.” Then some of those young people were baptized. It turns out that the death of their close friend spurred them to baptism, made them think about the eternal.
—Batiushka, as a resuscitation doctor and a priest, can you say that a person who has confessed and received communion, ready for death, departs differently than an unrepentant sinner?
For 17 years of my ministry, and before that, as a physician, I saw only 2-3 people who refused to take Communion before their death. Usually, when people saw a cross, they had a completely different attitude towards health worker. Once, a patient, the head of the Pentecostal community choir, came to our hospital in a very serious condition, and when I was already leaving the intensive care unit, she took my hand and asked me to pray for her. Pentecostals do not commemorate the dead, but she, seeing the cross, asked. The death of a person who takes communion is different, calmness, even in a serious illness, he accepts everything as if from the hands of God. Before death, a person sees another world hidden from us, and looks at everything in a different way, the values are already completely different. And he can't think of anything else. For example, a toothache - you want to climb the wall, you don’t need beautiful clothes, you don’t need TV shows, the temperature is under forty - what kind of music, cinema, condemning someone, just to get well, one hope for God and doctors. Of course, many wonderful things happen.
One mother had cancer, but there was almost no pain, she humbly endured everything. The Lord judged her to live another year, her husband, a priest, communed her every day. She knew about her serious illness, but humbly perceived everything and her death was quiet and calm.
– Do you know such cases when dark forces did not allow a person to take communion?
- Yes, of course, one dying man, to whom I was called, cursed, spat, and I did not dare to take communion. But just before his death, when the agony began, he began to call the priest, but it was too late. No matter what forces take a person, he departs anyway to God's judgment.
- Do such formal things as the price of a coffin, material, etc. matter? or is it just important that on the coffin was Orthodox cross?
- Price doesn't matter. On Athos, for example, they are buried not in a coffin, but wrapped in a sheet. And some princes of this world are buried in the most luxurious coffins. Well, so what? After all, it is said: “the slave and the lord are coming together, the king and the warrior, the rich and the poor in equal dignity” (stichera at the funeral service). Of course, beauty should not be neglected. Everything should be simple, but worthy. I would also like to note that in Russia there was no concept of a “coffin”, they used to say “domovina” - a solid house, not pretentious but solid.
Usually, before the end, a person is not able to take care of himself, therefore the duty of every believer is to do everything so that the transition to another world is formed for the dying person in a Christian way. Relatives of the dying person should show him all their love and warm participation, forgiving and forgetting mutual insults and quarrels. Not concealing an imminent death, but helping to prepare for the great transition to the afterlife - this is the main duty of relatives.
It is imperative to invite a priest to the dying, it is good if before death a person confesses and takes communion. But you need to try to do it in advance - do not put it off until the last moment, because at the very last moment it may be too late: a few minutes of delay - and the person is unconscious.
In moments of separation of the soul from the body, the Canon of Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos is read on behalf of a person with a soul separated and unable to speak. It is read from the person of "a man who is separated from his soul and unable to speak." The lips of the dying are silent, but the Church on his behalf depicts all the weakness of the sinner, ready to leave the world, and entrusts him to the Most Pure Virgin, whose help is called upon in the verses of the departing canon. This canon ends with the priest's prayer for the release of the soul of the dying from all bonds, for liberation from any oath, for the forgiveness of sins and repose in the abodes of the saints.
If a person suffers long and hard and cannot die, then another canon is read over him for the exodus of the soul, called the Canon, which is washed for the separation of the soul from the body, when a person suffers for a long time. Both canons on the exodus of the soul in the absence of a priest can and should be read at the bedside of a dying layman, omitting prayers intended for reading only by a priest.
- Funeral service. How to arrange everything correctly? Is it possible to sing in the morgue?
– His Holiness Patriarch Alexy said that the morgue is not a place for funerals, it is good to do the funeral in the church at the hospital, in the church in the cemetery or in any other church. Before performing the funeral of the deceased in the mortuary, make sure that the funeral will not be held by a false priest and that he has permission to perform the funeral. The fact is that there are many impostors who, posing as priests of the Russian Orthodox Church, perform “burials” in morgues and cemeteries in the Moscow region.
- What are the days of special commemoration of the departed?
Until the 40th day, the deceased is called the newly deceased. The commemoration of the newly deceased at the first time after death is important and necessary, especially because it facilitates the soul of the deceased such a difficult transition from temporary life to eternal life and helps to go through the so-called ordeals. special days commemorations of the newly deceased - the third, ninth and fortieth (in this case, the day of death is considered the first). Commemoration these days originates in ancient times. In the Apostolic Decrees it is written: “Perform the thirds of those who have died in the psalms, in readings and prayers for the sake of the Risen One on the third day, and the nineties in remembrance of those who have died here, and the magpie according to the ancient model, for so the people of Israel mourned Moses, and the anniversary of the memory of the deceased. ” There is also a custom to commemorate the deceased on every anniversary of death, on the birthday and on the day of the Angel. These days, the closest relatives gather to commemorate the deceased with a prayer at a joint meal. In the church, they serve a note for the Liturgy or order a memorial service, consecrate the kolivo. There are separate days in the year, mainly dedicated to prayers for the dead.
These are the so-called parent days:
1.Universal Meat-Safe Parental Saturday. It happens a week before Lent. This Sabbath got its name from the day following it - “Meatfare Week”, that is, the Day on which it is allowed to eat meat for the last time.
2. 2nd week of Lent.
3. parent universal sabbath 3rd week of Lent
4. Parental Universal Sabbath 4th week of Lent
5. Radonitsa Tuesday of the second week after Easter. This day is called Radonitsa to commemorate the joy of the living and the dead about the Resurrection of Christ.
6.May 9- Day of commemoration of all those who died and tragically died during the Great Patriotic War.
7. Trinity Ecumenical Parental Saturday- Saturday before the Holy Trinity. At present, the wrong custom has developed to consider the feast of the Trinity itself to be the parental day.
8.On the day of the Beheading of the head of the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John(September 11, new style) The Church commemorates Orthodox soldiers who were killed on the battlefield for Faith and Fatherland. This commemoration was established in 1769 during the war with the Turks and Poles by decree of Empress Catherine II.
9.Dimitrevskaya parental Saturday- Saturday a week before the feast of the memory of the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica (November 8, according to a new style), Heavenly Patron of the Right-Believing Grand Duke Demetrius of the Don. Having won a victory on the Kulikovo field, Prince Dimitri made a commemoration by name of the soldiers who fell on the battlefield on the eve of his day of the Angel. Since then, the Church has commemorated on this day, called by the people the Demetrius Saturday, not only the soldiers who died for the Fatherland, but also all the deceased Orthodox Christians.
On parental days, Orthodox Christians visit the temple, in which funeral services are performed. These days it is customary to make sacrifices on the memorial table (eve) - various products(excluding meat). Products are also brought to the funeral table on other days when a memorial service is performed, i.e. this is almsgiving for the dead. On spring and summer parental days (Radonitsa and Trinity Saturday), it is customary to visit the cemetery after the church: correct the graves of deceased relatives and pray next to their buried bodies.
- How to behave in a cemetery?
You don’t need to drink at the cemetery, leave food, unless you feed the birds. And if you bring and leave food - this is paganism, the deceased will not come out to eat. And consecrated Easter eggs cannot be left - dogs and birds will get them and this will be a desecration of the shrine. To commemorate the deceased, it is better to give food to the poor so that they pray.
– What burial customs are sinful and superstitious?
It is probably impossible to list all the superstitions - there are so many of them - to close the mirrors, a glass of vodka with bread “for the memory of the soul”, the prohibition to sit on the stools on which the coffin stood, pouring vodka on the grave, and so on. You don't have to follow them, you don't have to believe in them. You must always remember that the Lord takes a person when He wills Himself, a person is at the Judgment of God, therefore the main thing is our prayer for a person. Our prayer and church.
– Do you need to tell relatives not to attach importance to superstitions?
- I think you can say with love. Explain that the main thing is to pray for the deceased. For example, I recently said and they listened to me.
- On the grave cross Shouldn't there be a photograph of the deceased?
- No way. Sometimes placed at the bottom of the tablet but not on the cross itself.
- Father, what about cremation? Can the deceased be cremated?
If there is nowhere to bury, there is no money or to take it very far, in other words, if there is no other way out.
WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE FUNERAL
1. Baptism certificate.
2. Death certificate (suicides are not buried).
3. Funeral cover.
4. Permissive prayer.
5. Neck cross.
6. Whisk on forehead.
7. Big icon.
8. Icon in hand (small).
9. Cross in hand.
10. Lampada.
11. Coal.
12. Incense.
13. Candles.
*All items must be purchased from a temple or church shop.
Temple pastor: Priest Nikolai Kokarev
The burial of the deceased Christian takes place on the third day after his death (in this case, the day of death is always included in the count of days, even if death occurred a few minutes before midnight). Under emergency circumstances - wars, epidemics, natural disasters - burial is allowed and before the third day.
The Gospel describes the rite of the burial of the Lord Jesus Christ, which consisted in washing His Most Pure Body, putting on special clothes and being placed in a tomb. The same actions are supposed to be performed on Christians at the present time. The washing of the body represents the purity and innocence of the righteous in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is performed by one of the relatives of the deceased with the reading of the Trisagion prayer: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.” The deceased is freed from clothes, his jaw is tied up and placed on a bench or on the floor, spreading a cloth. For ablution, a sponge, warm water and soap are used, rubbing all parts of the body three times with cross-shaped movements, starting from the head. (The clothes in which a person died, and everything that was used in his ablution, it is customary to burn.)
The washed and clothed body, on which there must be a cross (if preserved, a baptismal one), is placed face up on the table. The mouth of the deceased must be closed, eyes closed, arms folded crosswise on the chest, right over left. The head of a Christian is covered with a large scarf that completely covers her hair, and its ends can not be tied, but simply folded crosswise. They put the Crucifixion in their hands (there is a special type of funeral type of the Crucifixion) or an icon - Christ, the Mother of God or heavenly patron. (Should not be worn on the deceased Orthodox Christian tie.) If the body is transferred to the mortuary, then all the same, even before the arrival of the funeral services, the deceased must be washed and clothed, and when the body is returned from the morgue, put a whisk and the Crucifixion in the coffin.
Shortly before the removal of the coffin from the house (or the issuance of the body in the morgue), over the body of the deceased, “Following the Exodus of the Soul from the Body” is read again. The coffin is taken out of the house feet first with the singing of the Trisagion. The coffin is carried by relatives and friends, dressed in mourning clothes. Since ancient times, Christians who participated in the funeral procession carried lighted candles. The orchestra at the funeral of Orthodox Christians is inappropriate.
According to the charter, when the body is brought into the temple, the bell must ring with a special funeral ringing, which announces to the living that they have one less brother. In the temple, the body of the deceased is placed on a special stand with their feet to the altar, and candlesticks with lighted candles are placed crosswise near the coffin. The lid of the coffin is left in the porch or in the yard. It is allowed to bring wreaths and fresh flowers into the church. All worshipers have burning candles in their hands. A memorial kutya is placed on a separately prepared table near the coffin, with a candle in the middle.
Don't forget to bring your death certificate to the temple. If, for some reason, the delivery of the coffin to the temple is delayed, be sure to notify the priest and ask for a postponement of the funeral.
The unbaptized (including infants), heterodox and heterodox, also killed in the commission of a crime and suicides are not buried. In the latter case, the deceased may be punished if he committed suicide in a state of insanity or insanity. To do this, relatives can ask for written permission from the ruling bishop by submitting a petition to him with an attached medical report on the cause of death of their loved one.
According to a special order, a funeral service is performed on the days of the Bright Paschal Week: instead of sad prayers for the dead, joyful solemn hymns of Holy Pascha are sung - the feast of the Resurrection of Christ and all those who believe in Him.
If it is not known for sure whether a person was buried or not, an absentee funeral should be ordered.
FUNERAL
In common parlance, the funeral service, because of the abundance of hymns, is called “Following the deathly worldly bodies.” It is in many ways reminiscent of a memorial service, since it includes many hymns and prayers that are common with the following of a memorial service, differing only in the reading of the Holy Scriptures, the singing of funeral stichera, farewell to the deceased and the burial of the body to the earth.
At the end of the funeral service, after reading the Apostle and the Gospel, the priest reads a prayer of permissiveness. With this prayer, the deceased is resolved (liberated) from the prohibitions and sins that burdened him, in which he repented or which he could not remember at confession, and the deceased is released into the afterlife reconciled with God and neighbors. In order for the forgiveness of sins given to the deceased to be more tangible and comforting for all those who mourn and cry, the text of this prayer is immediately included in right hand deceased by his family or friends.
After a prayer of permissiveness accompanied by the singing of the stichera “Come, let us give the last kiss, brethren, to the dead, giving thanks to God…” the farewell to the deceased takes place. Relatives and friends of the deceased go around the coffin with the body, with a bow ask for forgiveness for involuntary insults, kiss the icon on the chest of the deceased and the rim on the forehead. In the event that the funeral service takes place with the coffin closed, they kiss the cross on the lid of the coffin or the priest's hand. Then the face of the deceased is covered with a veil, and the priest sprinkles earth on the body of the deceased crosswise, saying: “The land of the Lord, and the fulfillment of it, the universe and all who live in it” (Ps. 23, 1). At the end of the funeral, the body of the deceased with the singing of the Trisagion is escorted to the cemetery.
The deceased is usually lowered into the grave facing the east. When the coffin is lowered into the grave, the “Trisagion” is sung - the singing of the angelic song “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us”; placed over the grave mound eight-pointed cross is a symbol of our salvation. The cross can be made of any material, but it must be of the correct shape. He is placed at the feet of the deceased, with a crucifix to the face of the deceased.
ABOUT THE FUNERAL IN THE MORGUE
Before performing the funeral of the deceased in the mortuary, make sure that the funeral will not be held by a false priest and that he has permission to perform the funeral.
The Orthodox Church recognizes the afterlife, therefore, it believes that a person does not die, but falls asleep. Only the body becomes dead, but the soul continues to live. In the first 40 days, its further path is determined. Prayers that are sung during the funeral help with this. The priest calls on relatives not with despair and despondency, but with good deeds and turning to God to save the soul of a person. For 40 days she rushes between earth and heaven, so the funeral service must be done as early as possible, on the third day after death.
If the ceremony is performed by a false priest or a priest who does not have the blessing (permission of the metropolitan), the funeral service is considered invalid.
TO Orthodox traditions does not include the various superstitions associated with the deceased that exist in many families, such as curtaining mirrors, refusing to use forks during a funeral meal, the custom of leaving part of the dishes or a glass of water (and even worse, vodka) in front of the portrait of the deceased, etc.
All these superstitions have nothing to do with Orthodoxy. Curtaining mirrors in the house where the body of the deceased lies is justified only if, thinking about the deceased, we move away from external fuss and give our last prayerful breath for the repose of the deceased soul.
The Church as the body of Christ, as the totality of the living and the dead in Christ, can, by the grace given to her by God, pray for the dead, offer a bloodless sacrifice for them (remove particles from the prosphora at the proskomidia of the liturgy), escort them on their last journey with a special rite of prayers - the funeral service , serve memorial services, litia, evening funeral services (parastases).
On the third day after death, a deceased Orthodox Christian is honored with a church funeral and burial. A funeral service is a funeral service performed once over the body of the deceased. The significance of this divine service is so great that in ancient times it was attributed to Church Sacraments and attached special mystical significance. And, indeed, in addition to the usual prayers for the dead, a permissive prayer is read over the deceased (necessarily by a priest), in which the oaths that were on him are forgiven, as well as the sins in which he repented at confession or forgot to repent out of ignorance, and the deceased is released in peace. afterlife. The text of this prayer is immediately put into the right hand of the deceased by his relatives or friends. If the prayer is not read by the priest over the deceased, but simply put by relatives into the hand of the deceased, then it has no power and does not play any role.
Who loses the church funeral
Those who deliberately took their own lives are deprived of the church funeral service. They should be distinguished from people who took their own lives by negligence (accidental fall from a height, drowning in water, poisoning with stale food, death at work, etc.), who are not recognized as suicides. This also includes suicide committed in a state of acute attack of mental illness or under the influence of large doses of alcohol (the so-called "pathological intoxication").
In the Orthodox Church, it is customary to classify as suicides those who died “during robbery”, that is, those who committed a bandit act (murder, armed robbery) and died from their wounds and injuries. Victims of a gangster attack are certainly not included here.
In order to perform the burial service of a person who committed suicide in an insane state, his relatives should first contact the Diocesan Administration and ask for written permission from the ruling bishop, submitting a petition to him and attaching to it a medical report on the cause of death of their loved one.
The priest, in doubtful cases and in the absence of written permission from the bishop, may refuse to perform the funeral service, especially if there is a deliberate attempt to hide relatives true reason the death of the deceased. When registering a funeral service, in doubtful cases, a representative of the church council can familiarize himself with the "Certificate of Death" issued by the registry office.
Commemoration at the Divine Liturgy (Church note)
Those who have health are remembered christian names, and about the repose - only those baptized in the Orthodox Church.
Notes can be submitted to the liturgy:
At the proskomedia - the first part of the liturgy, when for each name indicated in the note, particles are taken out of special prosphora, which are subsequently lowered into the Blood of Christ with a prayer for the forgiveness of sins
Funeral for babies
A special funeral service is performed for infants who died after Holy Baptism as for the immaculate, sinless, in which the Holy Church does not pray for the remission of the sins of the dead, but only asks to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Over the dead babies who have not been honored with Holy Baptism, no funeral service is performed, since they are not cleansed from the sin of their parents. About the future fate of infants who died without Baptism, St. Gregory the Theologian says that “they will not be glorified, nor will they be punished by the Righteous Judge, as those who, although not sealed, are not evil, and suffered more loss than they did. For not everyone who is not worthy of punishment is already worthy of honor, just as not everyone who is not worthy of honor is already worthy of punishment.
absentee funeral
There are cases tragic death when it is impossible to find the body of a person (who drowned in a shipwreck, died in a war or as a result of a plane crash, in a terrorist act, etc.) or when a person goes missing and relatives learn about his death many years later. In such cases, there was a tradition to perform the so-called absentee funeral. But it is permissible only in case of extreme need and real need, and not because of the laziness and negligence of the relatives of the deceased, and not because "it's easier this way."
V last years, unfortunately, a completely unacceptable practice has developed when the relatives of the deceased come to the temple, “order” a funeral service in absentia and immediately go about their business. A few days later (at best) they appear “behind the country”, that is, when their loved one is already buried by the priest all alone, when, except for an unfamiliar priest, not a single soul related to the deceased even thought to pray for his repose. Such an attitude towards the deceased shows the callousness of the soul of his relatives and complete indifference to the afterlife of the deceased. These qualities cannot be inherent in a Christian, and therefore, such an attitude towards church prayer for the deceased is reprehensible.
If, nevertheless, for some objective reason, the body of your deceased relative was not brought to the temple for a funeral service, you need to come to the church and ask the priest to perform the funeral service in absentia. To do this, you need to find out exactly when and at what time this funeral will be performed, so that you can attend it and pray fervently for your deceased.
Indestructible Psalter
The indestructible Psalter is read not only about health, but also about repose. From ancient times, the ordering of a commemoration on the Unsleeping Psalter is considered a great almsgiving for the departed soul.
It is also good to order the Indestructible Psalter for yourself, support will be vividly felt. And one more crucial moment, but by no means the least important
There is an eternal commemoration on the Indestructible Psalter. It seems expensive, but the result is more than a million times more than the money spent. If this is still not possible, then you can order for a shorter period. It's also good to read for yourself.
A few words about the "land"
In the rite of the funeral, there is no indication of the consecration of the earth, with which the priest crosswise sprinkles the "relics" of the deceased before closing the lid of the coffin, while saying the words: (Ps. 23:1).
But our contemporaries began to attach to this symbolic action magical meaning. The attitude towards this land has turned into a dense superstition, expressed in the fact that people who are far from the Church see the whole meaning of the Christian funeral service only in receiving the coveted "land". But the main thing is to perform the rite of church burial, so that the prayers of the Church would receive mercy from God, before whom he is about to appear. And the earth itself does not bring any benefit to the soul of the deceased.
In modern practice (for the sake of consoling the mourner), a tradition has developed when, during the funeral service in absentia, the priest blesses the earth three times, saying all the same words: "The land of the Lord, and the fulfillment of it, the world and all who dwell in it"(Ps. 23:1). However, we repeat, there are no indications for such an action in the Church Charter. At the end of the absentee funeral, this earth can be poured crosswise on the grave of the deceased, if any: like you are the earth, and you will return to the earth(Gen. 3:19).
If the Christian was cremated, then the earth can be poured into the urn with the ashes of the deceased and thus symbolically betray him to the earth. However, this is not at all necessary.
If the grave of a person is absent or is located very far from the place of residence of relatives and it is not possible to get to it, then there is no need to take the land after the funeral service in absentia.
Sorokoust about repose
This type of commemoration of the dead can be ordered at any hour - there are no restrictions on this either. During Great Lent, when a full liturgy is performed much less often, in a number of churches commemoration is practiced this way - in the altar, during the entire fast, all the names in the notes are read and, if they serve the liturgy, then they take out the particles. It is only necessary to remember that those baptized in Orthodox faith people, as in the notes submitted to the proskomedia, are allowed to enter the names of only the baptized deceased.
Funeral in the morgue
In recent years, some funeral homes have included mortuary funerals as part of their "services". This practice must be treated with great caution.
If for some good reason it is not possible to bury the deceased in the temple of God, then, as an exception, it is allowed to perform the funeral of the deceased at home. And only if this turns out to be impracticable, then it is necessary to find out where, in what environment the funeral service is performed in the morgue: is there a specially allocated ritual room for this, in which there are at least icons, a requiem table (eve), candlesticks. Go into this room, make sure it's in the right environment.
Then be sure to find out the name and surname of the priest who usually buries the dead in this mortuary: persistently ask in which church he serves, and then be sure to contact that church to make sure that the priest named to you is really a full-time cleric of this church, and not a mummer an impostor or a priest who is forbidden to serve.
If you have any doubts, negotiate with the administration of the mortuary and invite a priest you know from the temple, of which you are a parishioner.
But still - make every effort to bury your dear deceased in church.
About cremation
“It is absolutely unacceptable for an Orthodox Christian to indulge in the development of sinful pagan tradition burning the bodies of the dead. Let's remember the words of the Holy Scripture: And he said to Adam, “In the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken.”(Gen. 3, 17, 19). It is worthy to commend the body of the deceased to the earth with the corresponding funeral services performed in the temple of God, is the first Christian duty of the relatives of the deceased, for the fulfillment of which everyone will give an answer to the Last Judgment God's. Therefore, burning the body of the deceased is a grave sin - a desecration of the temple of God: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will punish him: for the temple of God is holy; and this temple is you(1 Cor. 3:16-17)."
However, it is fundamentally wrong to believe that cremated people will not be resurrected for the Judgment of God! “The Lord Jesus Christ, speaking of the Last Dread Judgment, which will determine the fate of man in Eternity, points to the return to life of all people who have ever died: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory; and all nations will be gathered before him(Matthew 25:31-32). All nations- these are all people who have ever lived on earth: both believers, and atheists, and the righteous, and sinners, and who lived before the birth of Christ, and our contemporaries - absolutely everything.
Christ directly said: God is not the God of the dead, but of the living(Matthew 22:32). This means that the entity once created by God ( human life) cannot be destroyed, and the image of God, the bearer of which is every person, is also the image of Divine immortality.
The dogma of the General Resurrection is the main doctrine of Christianity. In the Creed, finally adopted at the Second Ecumenical Council, this dogma is expressed by the words: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead.”
Therefore, it must be said that cremation is the sin of those who decide to do it; however, it cannot harm the soul of the deceased. And the Church does not refuse to bury those deceased who will later be cremated, or who have already undergone cremation.